Writing a Research Question

Good research is much more than randomly doing Google searches.  Writing a good research question can help researchers focus and organize their work, which can save time and support a stronger thesis statement and argument.  

Most academic writing is rewriting - very few people are able to craft good writing without evaluation and editing.  Proofreading is also very helpful!

When you're developing a research question, it can be helpful to think about a TOPIC, QUESTION, and SIGNIFICANCE:  

TOPIC:  I am working on the topic of______________________________________.

QUESTION:  because I want to find out ____________________________________.

SIGNIFICANCE:  so that I can help others understand_______________________.

It can also be helpful to consider important subtopics, keywords, or other ways to phrase your question.  Sometimes, your searches will return different results based on the words you use to search.  Sometimes subtopics influence what you have to say in your thesis statement.

No matter what your research question, it is always a good idea to get input and feedback from your teacher.  Some academic disciplines have different conventions for citations as well as content and structure.  Your teachers should be able to help you know what is important to include (for example, a lab report is not going to be structured the same as a literary analysis paper).  

Ms. Seeuwen and Mr. Batista has a good IB worksheet on developing research questions, and Mr. Ringwalt has a wealth of writing knowledge and would be happy to assist!